T: The taste is complex, but not one flavor note overpowers the palate. Immediately I pick up on a little Earthy smokiness -- though it's fairly light and approachable for a beer with "smoked" as the first word. Like in the scent, there are also notes of toasted nuts and sweet vanilla bean, then some dark cocoa becomes noticeable in the backend. This gives way to a slightly bitter dark chocolate finish.

F: The mouthfeel is fairly creamy, with a medium body and a medium-high amount of carbonation. It seems appropriate for the style, though I'd be interested what a lower level of carbonation would offer.

O: This is a deceptively light beer where the smoky and sweet aromas and flavors come together harmoniously to create a really enjoyable drinking experience. However, if I had to nit-pick, I'd ask for less carbonation next time around.

Look is dark brown but not quite black and very carbonated, two finger head. Smell was vanilla and hints of coffee. Was smooth and lighter than expected, with flavor of vanilla and aftertaste of spice which gave it a nice balance. Overall a pretty good beer, but I have to admit I was expecting more.

I picked up a bottle of Stone's Smoke Porter- Vanilla Bean last week for $8.49 at The Lager Mill. I've had the regular and the chocolate orange version, but I've never had this one before and I'm interested to see how it stacks up, so lets see how it goes. 2014 Vintage. Poured from a brown 22oz bottle into a teku.

A- The bottle looks pretty typical for Stone, it has some nice info on it, but it isn't too eye catching. It poured a nice very dark brown almost black color that took on a crimson hue when held to the light with almost two fingers worth of creamy and slightly bubbly dark tan head that died down to a thin ring that stayed till the end and it left some nice sticky and patchy lacing behind. This is a pretty nice looking beer, but i don't remember the other versions having that crimson color to them.

S- The aroma starts off with a higher amount of medium sweetness with a nice smokey aroma being the first to show up and it imparts a bonfire smoke like aroma that is quickly followed by the vanilla which shows up nice and it seems to add a little more sweetness to the aroma. Up next comes the malts which impart a roasted malt, sweet malt, chocolate, light coffee and some grainy malt aromas. This beer had a pretty nice aroma, the vanilla was noticeable, but I think it could have shown up just a little more.

T- The taste seems to be pretty similar to the aroma and it starts off with a slightly higher amount of medium sweetness with the smoke still being the first to show up and it still retains that nice bonfire smoke aspect. Up next comes the malts which are just slightly lighter than they were in the aroma, but they still impart the same roasted malt aspects with no single aspect sticking out the most. Towards the end comes the vanilla which shows just a little more than it did in the aroma and it lingers into the aftertaste with just a light amount of bitterness with some smoke and light roasted malts showing up also in the aftertaste. This was a pretty nice tasting beer and it seemed to have nice balance.

M- Smooth, crisp, on the thicker side of being medium bodied with a higher amount of medium carbonation. This beer had a pretty nice mouthfeel that worked well with it.

Overall I thought this was a pretty nice beer and I thought it was a nice example of the style, it had all the aspects from the original Smoked Porter, and while the vanilla wasn't the strongest flavor it did help make this beer a little more complex and it ended up being pretty balanced. This beer had nice drinkability, it was smooth, crisp, not too filling and the taste did a nice job at holding my attention, I think one glass is the perfect amount for me, but I don't think it would be a chore for me to drink the whole bottle. What I like the most about this beer was the complexity, the vanilla added another layer to this beer which makes it not as one dimensional as the original version. What I liked the least about this beer was that vanilla wasn't a little stronger, i think the base beer could hold up a stronger vanilla aspect. I would buy this beer again when In the mood for the style and I would recommend it to anyone who likes smoked beers, I don't think the vanilla covers up any of the smokey aspects. All in all I liked this beer, I'm still not a huge fan of Stone's Smoked Porter, but I thought the addition of vanilla beans worked well with this beer and it didn't take anything away from it, it just added to it a little. It's not a favorite Stone beer, but it is my favorite beer from their Smoked Porter series and it falls at above average for the style. Nice job guys this was a nice take on the Smoked Porter, keep up the hard work.